What Would a Hydraulic Fracturing Ban Mean for Pa. Families?

According to a new report from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Pa. would be one of the economically hardest hit states if responsible oil and natural gas were banned. In fact, according to the report, the Commonwealth would shed nearly 500,000 jobs, lose $45 billion in annual GDP, and families would see costs rise $3,500 annually.

Key Findings:

As MSC’s Dave Spigelmyer told reporters Friday, “Pa. is re-emerging as an international energy and manufacturing powerhouse” and “this report underscores this positive, broadly shared progress and makes clear how much we all have to lose if certain misguided, job-destroying policies were enacted.”

Here’s what they’re saying.

“What a Ban on Fracking Would Look Like”:If the extremists in the anti-fossil fuel movement get their way in national politics, the results would be predictably grim, according to a series of reports put out in the last three months by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. … What we found so compelling about the series from the Chamber is that it lays bare the impacts that an imprudent rush away from our current energy renaissance would have on the American economy. … The report found that if fracking were banned in the U.S., it would set off an economic downturn the equivalent of the financial crisis, the housing bust and the resulting Great Recession combined. … We regret that such apocalyptic scenarios are being used as scare tactics, but the reckless nature of the anti-fracking dialogue has left the adults in the room with no choice but to explain in the harshest terms what it would mean to halt energy production on that kind of scale. (Denver Post editorial, 11/4/16)

“Chamber: Ban on Fracking Would Kill 15 Million Jobs”: A fracking ban would kill thousands of jobs in the battleground states of Ohio and Pa. and millions nationwide, while doubling energy costs and increasing carbon pollution, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said Friday. The Chamber’s Institute for 21st Century Energy issued the report, “What If Hydraulic Fracturing Was Banned?”, showing a loss of 14.5 million jobs by 2022, while driving up the cost of living by $4,000. … “It’s easy for politicians and activists to call for an end to hydraulic fracturing — but now we know what the consequences could be,” said the institute’s president and CEO Karen Harbert. “Without fracking, the U.S. would surrender our status as a global energy superpower.” (Washington Examiner, 11/4/16)

“Report Says Fracking Ban Would Hurt Jobs”: Any federal ban on fracking for oil and natural gas would cause fuel prices to surge, leading to job losses, higher electricity and gasoline costs and an increased cost of living, especially in top gas-producing states like Pa., the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said in a report issued on Friday. The Chamber’s report focused on oil and gas production in the important swing states of Pa. and Ohio, and warned that a nationwide ban on fracking, as proposed by some environmental groups, would produce significant economic damage in both states. It estimated that Pa. would lose 466,000 jobs over the next five years; that the cost of living for the state’s households would rise by an average of $3,500 a year, and that state gross domestic product would drop by $45 billion by 2022 if fracking was banned by an incoming president. “A fracking ban would be a disaster for the U.S. economy, exceeding the economic harm caused by the financial crisis, the housing bust, and the Great Recession, combined,” the report said. (StateImpact PA, 11/4/16)

“14 Million Jobs at Stake with Fracking” Ban: Fracking supporters say the drilling technique supports more than 14 million American jobs and helps keep the cost of living down. … In Ohio alone, a ban on fracking would cost the average household $3,956, while 397,000 jobs would be lost, according to a study by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The chamber’s report also finds the nation’s gross domestic product would fall by $1.6 trillion by 2022 under the conditions of a fracking ban. “It’s easy for politicians and activists to call for an end to hydraulic fracturing–but now we know what the consequences could be,” said Karen Harbert, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century Energy. “Without fracking, the U.S. would surrender our status as a global energy superpower. Every American family could face higher prices for the energy they consume and the products and services they buy, and almost 15 million Americans could be out of work. These extreme and irresponsible proposals should not be considered. Ignorance can no longer be an excuse.” … “While on its face, ‘keep it in the ground’ policies are intended to punish the energy industry, in reality they punish the entire economy,” Harbert said. “Bringing back energy scarcity means higher energy prices for everyone. Beyond that, banning fracking would make America much more reliant on foreign sources of energy, weakening our national security.” (Wheeling Intelligencer, 11/8/16)

“A Fracking Ban ‘Would Be Tremendously Detrimental to Pa.’” A nationwide US ban on hydraulic fracturing would have a devastating effect on the natural gas industry and the country’s economy as a whole, causing prices to spike to $12/MMBtu and resulting in the loss of 14.8 million US jobs by 2022, according to a report released Friday by an arm of the US Chamber of Commerce. … “If we ban fracking, which accounts for two-thirds of all the gas pulled out of the ground and north of one half of oil, that’s a huge chunk of production that goes away and that means that prices go up really quick,” [the Chamber’s Christopher] Guith said. In addition to gas prices soaring back to the double-digit levels not seen since the early 2000s before the onset of the shale revolution, the price of gasoline and electricity would almost double by 2022, he said. “We’re on the verge of seeing the first year-on-year decrease in electricity prices. We would flip that on its head,” Guith said. … A fracking ban “would be tremendously detrimental to Pennsylvania,” said Gene Barr, CEO of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry. “During the Great Recession, the growth of this industry was virtually the only job creator in the Commonwealth in that time,” Barr said. … Over the same period, the report states that Pennsylvania could lose 466,000 jobs and $45 billion in annual GDP. The cost increase for the average Pennsylvania household was estimated to be more than $3,500 per year. (Platts, 11/4/16)

“Fracking Ban Would Cost US Almost 15 Million Jobs By 2022”: If an outright ban on hydraulic fracturing began the first of 2017, it would cost the United States 14.8 million jobs by 2022, according to a new report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. … The oil-rich states of Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas would be hardest hit. The study said by 2022, Colorado would lose 215,000 jobs; Ohio 397,000 jobs, Pennsylvania 466,000 jobs and Texas 1.49 million jobs. In addition to job loss, banning fracking would contribute to an almost doubling of gasoline prices (53 percent more in 2017), skyrocketing natural gas prices and a $1.6 trillion GDP decline by 2022, the report finds. “Without fracking, the U.S. could surrender our status as a global energy superpower,” Karen Harbert, president and CEO of the US Chamber’s Institute for 21st Century Energy. (RigZone, 11/4/16)

“Without Fracking, the U.S. Would Surrender Our Status as a Global Energy Superpower”: A ban on hydraulic fracturing would kill 14.8 million jobs and cost the average American family $4,000 dollars, according to a new report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Were environmentalists to successfully ban fracking next year, 3.9 million jobs would evaporate in 2017, rising to 14.8 million jobs lost by 2022, according to the report. … U.S. household incomes would fall by $873 billion. “It’s easy for politicians and activists to call for an end to hydraulic fracturing—but now we know what the consequences could be,” Karen Harbert, president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce’s energy program, said in a press statement. “Without fracking, the U.S. would surrender our status as a global energy superpower,” Harbert said. Manufacturing and energy would be the industries most harmed by a fracking ban according to the report, which was conducted by economists from the Energy Institute. … Additionally, American foreign policy would also suffer as fracking triggers a boom which allowed the U.S. to pass Russia as the world’s largest producer of both oil and natural gas. … These kinds of cost savings are great for the economy. When the price of energy decreases, the cost of goods and services produced using that energy declines as well. … Thus, low energy prices effectively reduce the price of almost everything. This is especially great news for the poor, who tend to spend a higher proportion of their incomes on energy. (Daily Caller, 11/4/16)